麦当劳增长势头不减

麦当劳（McDonald’s）仍在加快转型，其表现依旧令人印象深刻。

该快餐连锁公司在周二公布的季度营收再次实现增长，增长推动因素在于其目前最大的市场美国市场的同店销售额增长4.5%，超出预期，并且公司延续了三年前开始的增长势头。

近几年来，麦当劳一直在通过各种举措赢回市场份额，例如不断更新经典汉堡，推出食品配送服务和手机应用，提供打折饮料和McPick 2套餐，推出酪乳脆皮炸鸡等各种新品。最近，麦当劳的股价也涨至历史新高。预计麦当劳将在今年年中推出新鲜牛肉制作的足三两汉堡，为公司带来新的增长动力。

但与此同时，外界担忧麦当劳最近新推出的特价菜单，可能会侵蚀公司利润，影响其他餐品的销量，麦当劳也一直饱受这个问题的困扰。不过，彭博新闻本周早些时候的报道称，到目前为止，特价菜单一直在吸引新客户。但随着塔可钟（Taco Bell）等竞争对手纷纷推出超低价菜单，麦当劳的处境只会更加艰难。

GlobalData Retail的总经理尼尔·桑德斯在一份研究报告中写道：“尽管价值驱动业务成为了焦点，但它也在蚕食高价餐品的销量。”但他也称赞了麦当劳的技术投资，以及改善小食甜品展示效果的行动等。

麦当劳将继续整修门店。2018年，麦当劳的资本支出预计将达到约24亿美元，主要用于“未来体验”计划，对门店进行升级改造，以及今年新开1,000家门店。

麦当劳整个第一季度的净利润为6.987亿美元，每股收益87美分，去年同期的净利润为11.9亿美元，每股收益1.44美元。不计入美国最新税收立法产生的费用，麦当劳的每股收益为1.71美元，较去年的1.43美元有所增长，并超过了分析师1.59美元的预测。本季度营收53.4亿美元，较去年同期相比减少了11%，主要原因是公司将门店出售给了特许经营商。麦当劳股价在周二上午十点左右下跌了1.5%。今年，麦当劳股票的涨幅达到45%。

关于公司的未来，麦当劳振兴计划的总设计师、首席执行官史蒂夫·伊斯特布鲁克表示，公司的举措将继续带来回报。他在一则声明中表示：“我们将利用强大的商业模式以及公司品牌在便利性、菜单多样化、价值等方面的明显优势，加快增长，对此我们充满信心。”（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓 

McDonald’s impressive turnaround is continuing apace.

The fast-food chain on Tuesday reported another quarter of growing revenue, spurred by same-store sales rising a better-than-expected 4.5% in the United States, its largest market by far, and continuing a momentum that started to build three years ago.

McDonald’s has been winning market share back through different initiatives in the last few years, from new iterations of its classic burgers to food delivery to a mobile app as well as to discounted drinks and offerings like the McPick 2 deal and the new Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. That has led shares to all-time highs of late. And the chain expects the rollout in the middle of the year of its fresh beef Quarter Pounder to feed that momentum.

At the same time, the recent introduction of a new value menu is raising concerns it could eat into profits and hurting sales of other items, a problem McDonald’s has grappled with in the past. So far, the menu is attracting new customers, according to report earlier this week by Bloomberg News. Still, as rivals like Taco Bell introduce their own super-cheap options, the going will only get tougher for McDonald’s.

“As much as the focus on value drives trade (business), it is also cannibalizing sales of higher priced menu items,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, wrote in a research note. Still, he lauded McDonald’s tech investments and initiatives such as a better display for items like snacks and treats.

The company will continue those restaurant renovations: McDonald’s expects to spend about $2.4 billion of capital in 2018, primarily for the upgrade of restaurants in its “Experience of the Future” initiative as well as the opening of 1,000 restaurants this year.

Overall for the first quarter, McDonald’s had a profit of $698.7 million, or 87 cents a share, compared with $1.19 billion, or $1.44 a share, a year ago. Stripping out some charges related to the new U.S. tax law, it earned $1.71 a share, up from $1.43 a year earlier, below analysts’ forecasts for $1.59. Revenue dropped 11% to $5.34 billion from the year-earlier quarter because of the sale of company-owned restaurants to franchisees. McDonald’s shares, which had risen 45% this year, slipped 1.5% in mid-morning trading.

As for what’s next, McDonald’s Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook, the architect of the chain’s return to form, said the initiatives will continue to pay off. “We are confident that we will accelerate our momentum by capitalizing on our strong business model and distinct brand advantages in convenience, menu variety and value,” he said in a statement.